UPDATE 1-Libyan rebel head defiant after Gaddafi threat

CAIRO, March 17 (Reuters) - Libyan rebels will stand firm
and will not be deterred by threats made by Muammar Gaddafi, the
head of the rebel council said on Thursday after the Libyan
leader threatened to attack Benghazi where the council is based.

Gaddafi said his armed forces were going to the rebel
capital Benghazi on Thursday night and would not show any mercy
to fighters who resisted them.

"We stand on firm ground. We will not be intimidated by
these lies and claims," Libyan National Council head Mustafa
Abdel Jalil told Al Jazeera television.

"We will not settle for anything but liberation for this
country's people from this regime," he said. "Our rebels and
their determination are capable of defeating them."

The rebels had moved westward from their stronghold of
Benghazi earlier this month, but over the past 10 days or so
have been rolled back as a series of coastal towns, several with
oil terminals, were retaken by Gaddafi's better equipped forces.

Fighting has raged in Ajdabiyah, which stands at the gateway
to the east with roads leading north to Benghazi or a desert
route to Tobruk, the last major oil terminal still in rebel
control.

"Libyan cities from Ajdabiyah and all of the east are under
rebel control," Abdel Jalil said.

He was speaking before the U.N. Security Council voted on a
resolution that would open the way for air strikes. The
resolution is backed by Western powers, including the United
States which changed its earlier cautious tack and now backs
tough action.

"We welcome any decision coming from the international
community because of the deterioration of the humanitarian
situation, and to stop this genocide, to stop this ruler who
wants to govern by force or to kill his own people," Abdel Jalil
said.

"A no-fly zone will not be enough, there have to be air
strikes of some strategic areas and ... entry on the ground," he
said.
(Reporting by Dina Zayed; Writing by Edmund Blair; Editing by
Janet Lawrence)